


Log

by Kreton



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Conspiracy, Flashbacks, Rescue Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 15:09:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11443449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kreton/pseuds/Kreton
Summary: Rick has been invited to a celebration in his honor, and he's taking Morty with him. But things are not what they seem in the Smith household. Will Morty learn the truth before the end?





	Log

"You ever have one of those dreams where a lot happened but you only remember the last few moments before you woke up? I feel like tons of cool things happened, but I can only recall being outside my own body, watching it kinda like watching a movie. I saw myself struggle against...something, and then I got swallowed up by this metal mouth type thing. Rick would say that dreams don't really mean anything. And you know what? He's probably right.”

 

*~---------~*

 

Morty sat alone in Rick's ship, sweat sticking to his forehead. His eyes scanned across the complex readouts before him. He double checked his course and the ship's status. "Sh-ship? Ship, can you hear me?"

    "Yes Morty. I hear you," came the calm female voice of the ship.

    Morty shifted his weight, not used to being in the pilot seat. "Can you- are you able to record a recording? You know, like a log. I have a lot to tell, and I really need someone to know, in case… in case I don't make it to Rick."

    A red light lit up on the dash. "Recording now."

    He cleared his throat and began, "Yesterday.... Jeez, has it really only been one day? Feels like a lot longer." He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and continued, "Yesterday, Rick received a message from some aliens called the Grovokians. They're a race that had been forcibly coerced into joining the Galactic Federation. Apparently, a while back, Rick and his pals staged a major revolution and set the planet free. Anyway, they sent Rick a message inviting him to a celebration where they wanted to present him with a medal or something.” Morty rubbed the back of his head. “I don't really remember the details, but that's not important. What's importan-”

    “We are being pursued by another vessel,” The ship interrupted.

    He looked back into the void behind them, staring intently, looking for the other vessel. “Whe-where are they?”

    “Approximately twelve point eight light years away and closing.”

    Morty blinked a couple of times. “Uhh...is that close? Or….”

    “They will intercept us in two hours, fifty-eight minutes.”

    He looked at the instruments on the dash, somehow expecting to find something helpful. “A-a-and how long until we get to the Grovakians' home planet?”

    “Three hours five minutes to destination.”

    Morty held up his fingers. “So, that's, like,” he folded a few fingers on his hand, “twelve point eight minutes-”

    “Seven. It's seven minutes,” came the irritated voice of the ship. “At current speeds, they will catch us seven minutes before we reach the planet.”

    “Well, can we go any faster?” He asked.

    “I am currently traveling at maximum safe speed. Any faster and I risk compromising engine and hull integrity.”

    “But if we don't go faster, they'll catch us.” Morty puffed up his chest. “I o-o-order you to go faster. But just enough to get us there before they catch up.” Suddenly, a force swept over Morty, pushing him back into the seat. Normally, he couldn't feel when they sped up or slowed down. He hoped he was making the right choice.

    “Compliance. At current speeds, we shall arrive one minute before our pursuers. Be aware, engine and hull integrity degrading. At current rate, we'll be unable to make a return trip to Earth without repairs.”

    Morty nodded his head. “All we need to do is make it there. To make it to Rick. I don't have anything left to go back to anyhow.” He looked at the red light on the dash. “Where was I?”

_“I had been given a message for Rick, inviting him to a ceremony in his honor. I found him in the garage, where I gave it to him. And as usual, Rick was going on and on about how great he was.”_

 

“Yo-yo-you- you're gonna love it, Morty. It's a wondrous planet. They have all manner of advance technology. They're not like this world, Morty. I can get all kinds of things to help me with my work. Plus, I'm sure they'll have something you'd like too. I don't know, hamburgers or something.”

    “Burgers?” Morty asked doubtfully.

    Rick shook his head and threw his hands into the air. “You're missing the point again, Morty. I helped them out big time, and now it's time for a little payback. You see, most of the population never wanted to join the Galactic Federation. And that gave us an opportunity we couldn't pass up. So to give the GF a big FU, we set the planet free a mere month after they claimed it.”

    “Uh-huh.”

    “I-i-i-it was reeeeal easy. All we had to do was drop a bomb from orbit on the new headquarters the Galactic Federation had built and kill off all the remaining appointed leaders.”

    “Jesus, Rick! That sounds like something a terrorist wo-”

    Rick grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed in close to his face. The smell of alcohol coming off of him was strong. “We were freedom fighters, Morty. We freed that whole planet, a-a-and now they want to thank me for it. It'd be disrespectful not to show up.” He released his grip and sat down, taking a swig from his flask.

    “And y-y-you want me to go with you? Is it just to watch you get showered with praise?” He looked down at his feet. “Is that all I am? An audience.”

    Rick spoke with determination. “I neeeed you there, Morty. By my side. Who else can I trust to watch my back?” Morty blushed at the unexpected words. But Rick didn't notice, as his attention had been diverted by a small beeping device. “I have to take this. Go-urrrt and tell your parents you're gonna have to miss a couple days of school. We'll leave tomorrow evening, after you get home.”

_“Getting permission wasn't as easy as Rick made it out to be, but with some promises and convincing I managed to talk my parents into it. Everything seemed completely normal at that point. Even Summer seemed her usual self when I went to see her. I wanted to get her take on the situation. She was sitting at her desk scrolling through her phone as I explained where we were going. Although she wasn't really paying attention to what I was saying, I think she understood that I was nervous about the trip.”_

 

Morty sat on the edge of Summer's bed, looking to his older sister for reassurances. “Do you think Rick wants me to go with him because he's worried something bad might happen? Something seems weird. I can't quite put my finger on it.”

    Without taking her eyes off her phone, Summer said in a dismissive tone, “Sounds like he just wants someone to show off to.”

    “Oh.” Morty sighed, feeling let down by Summer's words. “Maybe you're right.”

    “Well, yeah,” she said smugly. A few moments of silence passed before she looked up from her phone, ready to ask him to leave. He was slumped down, staring out the window with a look of disappointment. She had not realized how important this was to him. “You know, he might be worried about the feds, or whatever, coming after him. Maybe that's why he wants you there.”

    “You think?” Morty perked up. “He did say he needed someone to watch his back.”

    “Well there you go.” Summer stood, prompting Morty to do the same. “Nothing to worry about. I'm sure Rick would have asked the whole family to go if he really wanted to boast.” Summer led Morty across her room to her doorway.

    “You're right. He only asked me to go. I guess he really does need me there.” Morty stepped into the hallway. Turning toward his sister, he gave her a little smile. “Thanks Summer.”

    “Anytime. And remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you.” She promptly closed her door in his face.

    As Morty descended the stairs, he caught the alluring scent of food cooking, so he went to check on what was being made and to see how much longer until it was done. When he walked into the kitchen, the sight of his mother felt somewhat nostalgic. “Hey Mom, what's cooking?”

    Beth spun to face him, knocking a bowl of noodles into the floor. For a moment, she looked like she had seen a ghost. “Oh! Umm, it's just you...Morty,” she said awkwardly.

    “Jeez Mom, are you okay?”

    She bent down, trying to salvage what she could of the noodles. “You just scared me. Startled, I mean. I was just surprised. I must have been daydreaming.” She kept looking up at him, causing the slippery noodles to separate and escape her grasp.

    “Mom, you're making a mess. Do you need some help?”

    “NO!” She yelped, raising her hand to her mouth. Her sudden outburst surprised even her. She took a deep breath and spoke in an even tone. “I can handle this, honey. Why don't you go wait in your room. It won't be long 'til supper is done, and I'll come get you when it is.”

    Morty rubbed the back of his neck. “That's okay, Mom. I'll just hang out with Rick, I guess.”

    “You can't!” Beth stood as if she were getting ready to block the path to the garage. “He left. He said something came up.”

    Morty sighed and turned to go back upstairs. “I guess I'll be in my room.”

_“I should have known something was wrong right then. I don't know when they got everyone, but my mom was definitely the first. That night at the dinner table, she continued acting strange, and Rick never came back. At least, that's what I thought.”_

 

The next morning, on his way to school, Morty walked out the front door with his dad and sister in tow. A familiar sound drew his attention to the open garage. “Rick? Are y-you back? I'm looking forward to-”

    Morty's dad grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. “It's time to go.” Jerry's voice was cold and distant. He stared toward the garage, but there was nothing there. If Rick had been there, he left the moment Morty spoke.

    The drive to school was more of the same. Jerry kept checking his rear-view mirror as if he were watching Morty. When they arrived at the school, Morty finally spoke up. “Did I do something wrong?”

    Jerry stared at him, never looking away from the mirror. “What do you mean?” he replied in the same cold tone.

    “Well, you seem mad at me. And Mom was acting weird last night too. It's almost like she was scared of me.”

    “Beth's not scared of you.” Jerry tilted the mirror down to get a better view. He spoke, in a lighter manner, “now why don't you run along to class and we'll see you when you get home.”

    Concern overtook Morty, “Oh...But uh, don't forget y-y-you said it was okay for me to go with Rick this evening.”

    Summer punched Morty in the shoulder before opening her door. “Come on numb-nuts. Let's go.”

    “Go on,” came the harsh command from the front seat. “And Summer, before you go, I need to talk to you for a second.”

    Summer let out a loud, exasperated sigh before slamming her door shut. “I'd better not have to do extra chores because he's getting to go on a mini vacation.”

    Morty felt like something terribly wrong was happening. Like things were spinning out of control. His stomach twisted into knots. He didn't understand what it was exactly, but something was going on behind his back.

    He made his way out of the car and started toward the school steps, but this nagging feeling wouldn't let him just ignore what was going on. He turned to make sure Summer was okay. He saw her through the car window. Her eyes locked onto him. He could see his father talking, saying...something. And as he spoke, Summer's eyes grew wider, and the color drained out of her face.

    _“Why didn't I do something? I knew something was up. If-i-iiif only I had acted right then, I might have been able to save Summer. But no, I just had to tell myself that everything was fine. That I was imagining things. I should have done something.”_

 

“Ship? How much longer until we get to the Grovokians?” Morty looked around into the deep emptiness of space.

    “One hour sixteen minutes until destination.”

    He nodded his head and tried to shake off this feeling of dread that was creeping over him. “Whatever it takes. I'm going to find you, Rick.”

    He stretched his arms out and twisted in his seat, working out the stiffness in his limbs. A sudden realization dawned on him. A pressure had been building inside him for a while. Slowly, over the course of the journey, it had been growing until he could no longer ignore it. He needed to pee. “Uhh Ship? Do we have time to make a quick pit stop?”

    A short hesitation in response led Morty to believe the ship was making some complex calculations. “Are you serious?” came the unexpected answer to Morty's question. “I am pushing my systems past recommended safe limits, endangering not only said systems, but also both our lives.”

    “You're alive?”

    “And you want to make a pit stop‽” Morty had never heard the ship speak like this before. Kinda with an attitude. “No Morty. We do not have time to slow down, stop, and accelerate back to our current speed before our pursuer catches up to us.”

    “But I gotta go.” The more he thought about not being able to go, the more he felt he had to. “I don't want to piss my pants like Summer always does.” Morty looked around desperately for something to take his mind off his predicament. The ship was, as usual, filled with trash, mainly consisting of old bottles and wrappers Rick had neglected to clean out.

    A realization flashed through his mind. Bottles! He quickly grabbed a corked bottle lying nearby, shook it to confirm that it was empty, and proceeded to unzip his fly. He pulled the cork and twisted in his seat to allow for correct flow into the bottle. As he placed the tip of his penis against the rim, an odd thought occurred to him. “Do you think this would count as an indirect blowjob, the way drinking after someone counts as an indirect kiss?” The ship didn't respond and Morty didn't wait. After he finished relieving himself and closed the bottle up, he placed it in the back floorboard. Out of site. Out of mind.

    Morty zipped up and rubbed his hands across his pants. “Okay, let's start up where we left off. Start recording.”

    “The recording is currently in progress. No command to pause was issued.”

    Morty's eyes grew wide. “Uhhh, can you erase everything after I was talking about getting to school? You know, the pit stop and stuff.”

    The ship had a hint of snide intonation in its response. “I am unable to edit the recording. Would you like to delete all?”

    “No,” he sighed to the ship. “Rick, if you're listening to this, j-just ignore- just forget that last part. Anyway, where was I?”

    “I had just arrived at school. The thing that looked like my dad had just done something to Summer. And I still had to get through the school day before I would learn I had no one left.”

 

“ _School went as usual, for the most part. But my brain wouldn't let go of the idea that something was wrong. What did Dad tell Summer to make her freak out like that? Why was he so cruel to me this morning? And why was Mom acting so weird last night? They were all connected, but I couldn't see it yet. My next clue was when I ran into Summer in the hall.”_

    Morty smiled when he saw his sister down the hall, digging through her locker. He didn't share any of the same classes as her, but he would often see her between their fifth and sixth periods as their paths would cross during that time. “Hey Summer. What di-”

    “Aaaah!” Her piercing scream cut him off, a look of pure fright plastered on her face. She ineptly threw her books toward Morty before turning and running down the hall until he lost sight of her.

    Every nearby student was silently staring at Morty. “Jeez,” he said, “must be that- that time of the month, ya know?” He could feel the dirty looks burn into him due to his bad joke. “Umm, just ju-just kidding. Ha ha.” He picked Summer's books up off the ground and shoved them into her locker as the crowd broke up.

    After school, Morty waited around, but no one came to pick him up. So he walked the thirty plus minutes home. When his house came into view, he briefly smiled. He was exhausted and wanted this day to be over with, but then he remembered how his family had been acting weird. The feeling of dread was overtaking him again, but It was quickly driven away when he thought of Rick. Rick would know what to do. He had to get to him.

    Morty ran past the ship and into the garage hoping Rick would be there. No luck. He would have to go into the house and search for him there. He went through the door leading to the kitchen. Inside he found Beth and Jerry waiting for him. They stood with angry expressions and arms crossed, staring at him. Beth spoke first. “Summer told us what you did to her at school.”

    “Wha? But I didn't,” Morty muttered.

    Jerry took an imposing step toward him. “If you can't behave yourself, then you're grounded,” he scolded.

    Morty looked at them pleadingly. “No, really I didn't do anything. A-an-an-a-and anyway, you said I could go with Rick. It's really important. I have to go with him.”

    Beth stepped forward next to Jerry. “There's no way you're going anywhere with Rick.”

    Morty started shaking his head. “No. No. No! Where's Rick? What have you done with him?”

    “He's gone,” Jerry replied. “He escaped, leaving you behind.”

    He looked these two people standing in front of him in the eye. There was no love, no understanding. Only disdain. He finally understood. “You're..you're not my parents!”

    “No shit, Sherlock,” came the snarky retort from Beth. She pulled out a small weapon that looked like one of Rick's laser guns.

    Without thinking, Morty ran back outside and jumped into the ship. Jerry and Beth chased after him.

    _“That was the moment I realized what the feeling of dread was. I'd been surrounded by enemies. Something had come and slowly taken over, or replaced, my family. I had to get out of there and find Rick. I started the ship up and headed for the last place Rick and I had talked about. I must be on the right trail because something is chasing me. Trying to stop me from getting to you, Rick... End log.”_

 

The light on the dash faded until it was no more. Morty took a deep breath, hoping Rick would never hear that message. “Ship, how much longer?”

    “Approximately four minutes until destination. Be advised, I have lost track of the pursuing vessel.”

    Morty smiled. “Does that mean they gave up?” A sudden blast rocked the ship, the light blinding Morty for a moment. Lights and indicators lit up across the dash. Alarms blared in his ear. “What was that‽”

    “A projected energy weapon impacted my starboard side. It would appear the vessel has somehow caught up with us.”

    “Fire back. We can't let them stop us.”

    “Weapons power has been diverted to the engines.”

    Another blast shook the ship. Morty could hear what sounded like hissing coming from somewhere. “Can't you divert it back to the weapons?”

    “The process would take twenty seconds, but time to destination would increase.”

    “By how much?” A third shocking blast left a small crack in the dome.

    “Currently three minutes until destination. If power is diverted back to weapons, time until destination will be six minutes.”

    Morty gripped the steering wheel and tried to calm his nerves. “So it's, hope we make it before being destroyed, or take a stand and fight with no guarantee of being able to win.” A flash of light streaked past, telling him that whoever was chasing him had missed. “We're going for it. Don't slow down. Keep going. We'll make it! We've got to.”

 

Morty opened his eyes and started coughing. This was a mistake. A sharp pain shot across his entire chest. He was pretty sure that his ribs were broken. He looked around himself, vision blurry and smoke all around. The dome had shattered, but that didn't matter. He was on the ground. A display in front of him had an arrow pointing straight ahead, with the words 'Rick 93 Meters'. “We made it.” He pulled himself up out of the seat and onto the front of the ship. He found his left arm was broken as well, and he was bleeding quite a bit. Somehow, he found the strength to climb down and start walking. “They're not gonna stop me Rick.” He spit out the blood that was filling his mouth. “I've gone through hell to get to you. And now you're so close.” He tried not to cough, even though his lungs burned.

    Ahead, he saw a structure that looked like a fancy mobile home. It was the only building in sight. It might have been ninety-three meters from him. He couldn't really tell. He wasn't good with that kinda thing. It felt like both his ankles might be sprained, but he limped and stumbled his way to it. Once there, he opened the door to step inside and was greeted by a bright flash of light and a sudden new pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a hole with large amounts of blood pulsing out of it. He could actually feel his heartbeat and see it push the blood out of him. “Nooo! Don't shoot him!” came a distant voice that sounded like his own. He collapsed onto the ground, the world fading around him.

    He was aware. Disjointed. His face was in the dirt. He couldn't remember what he was just thinking about. He was looking at a pair of shoes. They looked like Rick's shoes. Rick. He looked up. His body felt heavy. It barely moved. He saw Rick towering above him, and Morty standing next to him. His vision blurred as tears filled his eyes. He'd made it. He'd found Rick, and everything was going to be all right.

 

Morty bent down to inspect the body that lay before them. “What was it Rick? He looks just like me.”

    Rick put away his pistol and pulled out his flask. “It was a replicant. A-a-a tyuUUupe of custom made clone.”

    “So wh-what was he suppose to do?”

    “How should I know? Probably something like keep an eye on me, lead me somewhere, or straight-up kill me. The Grovokians's cloning tech is pretty advanced, but they've never cloned a human before. Who knows if it was even programmed right. I never expected it to go as far as stealing my ship to get to me though. It must have really wanted to get me bad.”

    “Yeah, it was a good thing you had your old ship on the moon, that you remote sent to stop him, huh, Rick?”

    Rick punched Morty in the arm. “No need to explain to me what I did. Now, let's get home. Sounds like the family didn't handle having a possible maniac Morty running around the house too well.”

    Morty walked beside Rick as they moved toward the ship, leaving the dead boy behind. “Did you say Summer pissed herself when he attacked her at school? I hope he didn't do anything weird to Jessica.”

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank TripleX_Tyrant for proof-reading this.
> 
> If the story seemed familiar that's because it's based on the episode "Whispers" from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. So please don't attribute the great story idea to me.


End file.
